Pirates should quickly pivot to Mets targets after A.J. Minter trade starts fire sale

The New York Mets have officially opened for business, and the Pittsburgh Pirates should be standing at the front of the line.

New York made the first of what is expected to be several moves before Monday's trade deadline Friday, sending left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins for infield prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick.

Minter himself was never necessarily the perfect target for Pittsburgh. What matters far more to the Pirates is what his departure represents. The Mets are selling — and for a Pirates team whose most obvious deadline need remains bullpen help, there may not be a better seller to call.

The Athletic's Jim Bowden recently linked Pittsburgh to the Mets' collection of available relievers, specifically identifying Luke Weaver as a potential fit. If that's the case, Ben Cherington shouldn't waste much time because Weaver is exactly the kind of reliever Pittsburgh should be targeting.

The former New York Yankees right-hander has been dominant for the Mets this season, posting a 1.93 ERA, 2.92 FIP and microscopic 0.833 WHIP through 42 innings. He has struck out 43 hitters in 40 appearances, accumulated 1.8 bWAR and owns a 220 ERA+.

More importantly, Weaver isn't merely another middle-relief lottery ticket. The Pirates have enough of those. They need someone Don Kelly can reasonably trust in a postseason race when the seventh, eighth or ninth inning arrives. Pittsburgh's bullpen has spent too much of this season turning close games into losses for Cherington to approach the deadline by adding another volatile arm and hoping everything clicks.

Weaver would represent an actual upgrade. His contract makes him even more attractive. Weaver is signed through 2027 on a two-year, $22 million deal, so this wouldn't have to be a two-month rental. Pittsburgh would be adding a high-leverage reliever for the stretch run while also addressing part of next year's bullpen. That kind of control should make surrendering legitimate prospect capital easier to stomach.

Pirates should be all over Mets in aggressive pursuit of bullpen help at trade deadline

Of course, Weaver isn't the only Mets reliever Pittsburgh should ask about. Brooks Raley and Huascar Brazoban could both make sense depending on the acquisition cost, and the Pirates should be exploring the possibility of packaging multiple relievers together if New York is serious about dismantling its bullpen.

Minter's trade could be the first domino of a much larger sell-off, and Pittsburgh needs to react accordingly.

There will undoubtedly be plenty of competition for Weaver, especially if his performance remains anywhere close to this level. But compared with the Pirates' pursuit of San Diego Padres star Mason Miller, this feels considerably more realistic.

The Pirates have already spent too much of the season watching their starting pitching and offense do enough to win, only for an unstable bullpen to give games away late. At this point, identifying the problem isn't difficult. Neither is identifying the type of solution they need. The difficult part is actually paying the price to fix it.

New York has now publicly signaled that veterans are available. Cherington reportedly already has interest in the Mets' relievers. The Pirates are in a playoff race and desperately need late-inning stability. There shouldn't be much mystery about what happens next.

Call the Mets again. And keep calling until Weaver — or another meaningful bullpen upgrade — is headed to Pittsburgh.

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